He’s tall, yellow and handsome – please say hello to bRICK, an eight-foot Lego man who lives in Grand Junction, Colorado.
Ooooh, what a stud!
This towering toy boy welcomes visitors to the eBricks Lego shop, a true Aladdin’s cave full of blocks, playsets and minifigures. Come for the 2,000lb Lego gentleman, stay for the extensive collection of the world’s favourite plastic building toys.
bRICK dominates 7th street, his cheeky grin and garish outfit transforming the sidewalk into a playbox of fun and frivolity. Standing before bRICK, that oversized ode to childhood, roles are reversed. The viewer becomes the toy, and the world feels just a little bit bigger – and more magical.
I guess you could say he was the missing piece of downtown Grand Junction!
“It’s created a buzz,” Kenneth Riskey, the eccentric owner eBricks, told an enchanted reporter from The Daily Sentinel. “It’s all ‘Ooo!’ and ‘Wow!’ and ‘That’s cool!’”
This giant Lego man has proven to be a real brick-magnet. Not surprisingly, business is booming – and not just for the fine folk at eBricks.
“Honestly, every like 10 or 15 minutes, I see people taking pictures with him. It’s a pretty epic sculpture,” chuckled Cole Rath, charismatic owner of Mountain Air Roasters, which is lucky enough to be next door to eBricks.
bRICK may be a dream come true for blockheads, but building him was certainly not child’s play…
If you build bRICK, they will come
As the popularity of eBricks blossomed in the early-2020s, Kenneth dreamed of installing a set of giant Lego blocks outside the front door, to lure in yet more customers. But this build was too much even for a Lego master like him.
And that’s when, by pure chance, Kenneth bumped into Brandon Sloan. Yes, that Brandon Sloan – the renowned blacksmith and enigmatic owner of Ironics Forge in nearby Dolores.
Brandon built the bundle of bricks, and Kenneth was so delighted he decided it was time to go big. Well, sort of. He initially asked Brandon to build him a four-foot-tall Lego man and then, after mulling it over, told him to double it.
That’s right – EIGHT FEET of grinning Lego man.
Brandon, who was not just there for bricks ‘n’ giggles, carefully measured up a regular-sized Lego man. Then, using advanced mathematical algorithms that would make Pythagoras blush, he created a blueprint for an eight-foot-tall version.
A blueprint that was juuuust different enough from Lego Movie‘s main character, Emmett, to avoid legal problems.
The end result, Brandon promised, would be bRICK-tacular.
The Sacred and Propane
After scavenging metal from all over western Colorado, brave Brandon found an old propane tank that would serve perfectly as bRICK’s head, shoulders and oh-so-muscular arms.
Erm, Brandon – isn’t that a bit dangerous?
“You’re worried about blowing yourself up,” he shrugged afterwards.
With the plans and materials in place, our fearless forger spent the next few months putting the big fella together.
“The worst part was grinding. I ground on that for days and days and days,” Brandon wept. “Legos aren’t welded, they’re smooth. I ground and ground and ground and ground.”
Well, they do say hard work keeps you grounded – teehee!
When bRICK was finally in one piece, he was loaded onto the back of a truck, driven to Pro Powder Coatings in Grand Junction, and slathered in glossy automotive enamel paint.
“I was surprised at how much detail they did in the paint,” Brandon yipped excitedly. “It’s one of the coolest, biggest public things I’ve done, but the paint really made it.”
Sounds like you had a brush with greatness, buddy!
When bRICK was finally unveiled one sunny day in August, 2022, his admirers were lined up around the block to see him. After snuggling in for a cuddle with this joyous behemoth, most didn’t wanna lego!
“I called him the Legolith,” Brandon reminisced afterwards. “It was so stinking big!”
Kenneth Riskey, however, couldn’t believe his wildest dreams had come true. He had the store. He had the customers. And now, he had a large Lego man of his very own.
“It’s so much fun,” Kenneth grinned, ushering another group of Lego-heads into his shop.
You’ve built quite a Lego-cy, Kenny!
The Brickman Cometh
As I was admiring bRICK, I was approached by a vibrantly-dressed ghost from my past – Ryan McNaught. You might know him as Brickman, bad boy of the international Lego scene and co-host of the hit show Lego Masters Australia.
I know him as the man who shattered my dreams.
During season two of the popular program, Brickman made some pithy comments about a Lego dinosaur I’d lovingly constructed, then unceremoniously dumped me from the show. I haven’t touched a Lego brick since.
“I suppose you’re here to apologise,” I sniffed.
“Bigs, I’m actually here to see bRICK,” he grinned.
“So you step on my soul and then swagger back into my life like nothing happened?”
“Bigs,” Brickman blubbered, tears cascading down his cheeks, “my heart weeps every time I send someone home from Lego Masters – and what happened to you left me shuddering for days. But please understand that I have my responsibilities as a TV host. Your dinosaur was quirky and charismatic, but it lacked the technical precision of the other builds.”
Brickman’s words stung, but they made sense. He didn’t have a vendetta against me, he was simply doing his job. With bRICK grinning down at us, we embraced, and a decade of unresolved tension lifted.
“Brickman,” I sobbed, “can I take you to breakfast to make up for all these years of detesting you?”
“That would be delightful, Bigs,” he blubbered. “I’d love a couple of slices of crusty sourdough toast, slathered in avocado and salmon.”
“Erm, I was talking about Breakfast – you know, the giant apple statue down the street.”
Silence descended upon us.
“So I can expect a grovelling phone call from Hamish?” I asked sheepishly.
“Gosh, no!” Brickman chuckled. “He thought it was hilarious when you got kicked off the show!”
